In one shot, Donkey is seen with a woman in lingerie while a shirtless man sits on a bed in the background — apparently referencing a menage a trois between the characters.

A representative for Paramount, which distributes Shrek and other Dreamworks films, told gossip news website Fox411 that they regretted allowing Vman to publish the shoot.

"In hindsight the studio would have declined to have the characters participate," the representative said.

The website reported that the product did not turn out the way the studio had envisioned it when the magazine approached them with the idea.

Vman's issue appears ahead of the world premiere of the fourth Shrek movie, Shrek: Forever And After, which will be released in theatres in May.

New York Post film critic Kyle Smith said the photo shoot shows that film studios are becoming increasingly desperate for publicity.

"I don't think Walt Disney would have allowed Snow White and Cinderella to appear in a magazine spread that made it look like they were about to participate in a menage a trois," he told the website.

"I doubt the pictures are going to corrupt the youth of America, since they're in a fashion magazine that would probably not interest children.

"But someone should be fired for having such a dim understanding of the Shrek brand that they were willing to trade his carefully nurtured family-friendly image for some cheap publicity in a tired and vaguely tawdry fashion spread."